The Crimson Reaper
by KageNoYoko
Summary: Tensions are high after the Rose/Xiao Long battle, and everyone is feeling the pressure. Can the two girls mend their bond before a wave of darkness crashes down on Beacon academy? And can Ruby open up to her team in time, and reveal to them her blood-soaked past? Rated T for caution, lightly implied Ruby X Blake. Part two of the Guardian of Red series.


**I would recommend reading this stories predecessor, The Red Guardian, before starting this story, but it's not absolutely mandatory.**

**X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X**

several weeks had passed since the eventful battle between the rambunctious siblings of team RWBY, and ever since, it seemed as though dark, chocking clouds had been gathering over the school.

Rain had been falling for the last few days in an unending wave, forcing all classes to be held indoors, and all field trips/combat training to be cancelled, or rescheduled, which put several people into dark moods. But none were as dark as the melancholy that hung over Team RWBY's dorm.

Yang hadn't been anything like her normal self since the fight, and had even begun to let her looks go, her hair a tangled mess, her eyes red and bloodshot, and her semblance had even seemed to be burning out, the energetic flame having dwindled to the size of a candle. But that wasn't the worst of it.

Ever since the fight, Ruby had been all but comatose, barely saying a word above a whisper, and shuffling from class to class in a daze. No one could say they had seen the girl smile since the event, and her cloak oddly enough, had begun to turn the colour of a wilting rose.

Blake and Weiss had luckily been keeping a close eye on the sisters, and making sure nothing happened to them as they continued to attend classes, though both were beginning to grow worried, and were seriously considering having the two pulled from active duty and sent to the nurse's office.

Unfortunately, both girls were adamant that they were fine, and Yang was prone to angry outbursts when they questioned her on the matter.

Luckily it seemed as though the all-knowing Ozpin was aware of what was going on with the team, as the girls hadn't been sent out on assignment since that day, and had even been helpfully setting aside non-critical missions for them, for when they had everything sorted out.

Unfortunately, it didn't seem as though that would be happening anytime soon.

Ruby released a small groan as she pushed herself up into a sitting position, the moonlight shining in from the nearby window, her body feeling as though full of lead.

She had to admit the last few weeks had been uncomfortable, but as she hadn't been able to get in contact with her uncle yet, she was forced to stick out the turbulent feelings crashing around inside of her heart, and get on with her job.

Grabbing up Crescent Rose, and her cloak, which she noticed with a click of her tongue was fading, the girl moved across the room quietly, stopping but a moment to look at her big sister, laying out fast asleep on her bed, and wincing, before continuing to the window.

Slowly pushing it open, to prevent that annoying squeaky hinge from blowing her cover, the girl darted out of the window with a small burst of rose petals. She found herself thankful that the rain had decided to let up for one night to allow her this late-night romp out into the forest.

What the girl didn't notice as she left were the bright yellow eyes following her every movement since she woke up, and how the other girl quickly got changed and followed her out, stopping to grab her weapon as an afterthought.

Ruby dashed through the forest with practiced ease, spring boarding from branches and trunks, and occasionally grabbing branches to increase her overall speed, in an attempt to make as much distance as she could from the school, her destination unknown for the moment, but knew that she was approaching the cliff overlooking the emerald forest.

Finally the tree line broke, and the girl slid to a stop at the edge of the cliff, more rose petals flying from her cloak as she cut off her semblance to avoid going flying over the cliff, even having a moment of panic where she thought that she had too much speed, and would need to use her beloved to quickly slow herself down.

Ruby sighed as she looked up at the full moon, and slowly took a seat at the edge, allowing her feet to hang over, setting down her baby beside her, and allowing her mind to wander.

At least, until she felt a presence behind her, and quickly grabbed up her weapon, getting to her feet in a blink, and doing a perfect 180-degree turn on her heel, Crescent rose deploying in time with her, and just barely missing the body of the intruder, who parried the heavy weapon with a disarmingly thin katana blade.

The girls allowed their eyes to meet, and after a moment in the impromptu standoff, Ruby finally allowed her shoulders to relax, and let crescent rose collapse, slipping it back into it's sheath hidden beneath her cloak with a practiced flick of her wrist.

"You shouldn't have followed me out here Blake," Ruby moaned, turning and retaking her place at the edge of the cliffs, her relative calm broken by the intrusion.

"I'm worried about you, we all are, you should know that Ruby," Blake replied, sitting down beside her friend and detaching her own weapon from her belt, though leaving it within arms reach.

"I just...I don't know what's happening in my head right now, and I can't seem to get in contact with Uncle Crow," Ruby explained, head downcast. She was startled to find a hand on the back of her head, gently running soft fingers through her hair.

"You're younger than us, we can't say that we understand what's going on in that big head of yours red, but I think that your big sister is really worried about you, so maybe you should at least try and talk to her," Blake advised, but noted how Ruby quickly shook her head.

"No, I don't think I'm ready to talk to Yang yet, I don't even know how I feel about her after our fight, I'd rather get in contact with Crow first, and then I need to figure out what I'm going to say," The black-haired girl reasoned.

"Well we can't wait for you forever Ruby, We've already taken two weeks off-duty, and you've seen how your sister is getting since she hasn't heard your ever-perky voice," The older girl replied, making Ruby wince.

"I know that Yang is taking this hard, but a small, sadistic part of me...is kind of enjoying seeing her suffering like this, and it's whispering in my ear that she deserves it and...then another part of me starts to chastise me for even thinking like that, and then..." Ruby would have most likely continued to rant, had Blake not gently rested a hand over her mouth, and met her eyes with her own bright yellow ones.

"Okay, so maybe your mind is a little more messed up than we thought, but tell me honestly Ruby, do you think that talking to this uncle of yours will help you settle these thoughts?" Blake asked calmly, and was slightly amused to see how Fast Ruby nodded her head.

"Uncle crow has always been there for me, and I'm sure he knows the right answers for this too, if he would just answer his scroll, the man has a terrible habit of setting it somewhere and then forgetting about it," The smaller girl answered.

"Then okay, maybe we can wait a little bit longer," Blake replied, "But, if you can't get in contact with him by next week, I am going to step forward and do something about this, I'm tired of this dark cloud hanging over our team, and I'm sure if Weiss were more perceptive she would have picked up on this by now as well."

"Thank you Blake," Ruby said, offering the cat Faunus a genuine smile. The two girls sunk into a calm silence for a few minutes after the exchange, until Blake finally broke it.

"So when were you going to tell us that you were part of one of the most premier teams of mercenaries the world over, and had been assigned to attend Beacon to watch over miss Schnee?" Blake asked, a hint of playfulness in her tone.

Ruby threw her head back and groaned loudly in response, amusing the other girl, "Oh Come on, you picked up on that too? Can't I keep anything secret from you Blake?"

"No, I was raised to be able to read people, and your combat prowess far exceeds anything a girl of your age, even if you had spend your entire life attending a famous school like Beacon or Signal, should have," Blake explained.

"Okay, fine, I've been training to be a warrior by my Uncle since my mom passed away when I was little, that's why I have such honed reflexes," Ruby explained with a huff, "Happy now, miss former white fang?"

Blake's eyes widened in surprise at the counter, and she felt her hands beginning to grow clammy, "H-how did you know about that?"

Ruby's smile only further unnerved her, "We pride ourselves on our up-to-date information, and when a member of the white fang broke away from the terrorist organization during a successful train heist, we of course took notice."

Blake found her hand moving towards her weapon, and all of her instincts were screaming at her to get out of there, since Ruby appeared to have a thick coat of killer intent beginning to surround her.

This was broken when Ruby burst into animated laughter, falling over and beginning to roll around in the grass, holding her stomach as the cheerful noise echoed out over the cliffs.

Mildly incensed at being teased like that, Blake took her weapon, and bopped the girl in the forehead with the handle, though not enough to cause any permanent harm.

"Ow, hey, it was just a joke Blakey," Ruby cried now holding her forehead.

"Don't tease me like that mercenary," Blake shot back, causing Ruby to wince.

"Listen Blake, my first and only priority for being at Beacon is to protect Weiss from those that obviously want her dead, and she can't defend herself from. The only reason that I know about you is because on that first day, when you helped me out, I thought that I recognized you, and I checked in with the bounty office for what information I could gather," Ruby explained calmly, which also seemed to calm the cat Faunus down.

"So...I have a bounty?" Blake asked.

"It's not worth very much, and the parameters are simply find and observe, so I took it on for a little extra pocket change," The black-haired girl explained to her friend, "Don't worry, no order has come in to capture you, and I think the matter of whether or not your a threat to my charge was settled during initiation."

While she would admit to herself that being a low-priority target irked her, Blake was happy to hear that the Grimm hunters didn't seem to be out for her blood, and that Ruby was the one that had chosen to observe her. She would have been much more on-edge if it had been someone else shadowing her.

Unfortunately, the girls talk had to be cut short, as the clouds began to move in again, and rain began to pour down on the two, forcing them to quickly scoop up their weapons and bolt for the trees, hoping to make it back to the dorm before their clothes were soaked through.

Unknown to the two girls, a man with silver hair and a cane, and a woman with blonde hair watched on from a nearby tree, one calmly sipping from his cup, and the other taking down notes in her scroll.

"Perhaps our fears were unjustified after all Glynda," Ozpin commented, taking another sip from his cup.

**X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X**

**Just to settle the matter now, anyone who comments about what colour Ruby's hair is or isn't is going to be ignored. According to the Wiki, her hair colour is Black with Red streaks, so your argument is invalid. Good day to you sir.**

**So yeah, A bit of drama in the first chapter, but also a hint into Ruby's past, which I had been building up in the last series. I also wanted to try and show that even with the drama going on between Ruby and Yang, that the girls can still have a light-hearted moment, and that's what I'm planning for future chapters (whenever they come out, I make no promises on a consistent schedule).**

**Ja Ne!**


End file.
